After leading 10-7 last night, the Buckeyes have a 131-23 scoring advantage in first quarters this season. There seems to be a method to that scoring madness, although coach Urban Meyer downplayed the effect he and his staff have.

“I think it’s just comfort level (with the system in the second year), and usually kids who like to play,” Meyer said. “I don’t mean to simplify it like that, but it is. It’s not some talk or something. It’s just we emphasize it, and I’ve got a group of kids who like to go play.”

Senior offensive tackle Jack Mewhort said the schedule that the players go through, especially on the road, as orchestrated by football performance director Mickey Marotti, pays dividends.

“Coach Mick and Coach Meyer have been doing this for a long time, and they have a system in place when they go on the road that obviously works for them, and it has worked here so far,” Mewhort said.

Asked for details, Mewhort said he didn’t want to bore with the minutiae of it all.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” he said. “It’s getting up, moving around, then resting. There are intervals where everything happens, and it’s very precise.”

They were on a similar regimen leading up to the first road game, at California three weeks ago. The team arrived about 26 hours before game time. The Buckeyes did not do a walk-through at the stadium, but Brown said the coaches added a different style to the run-through work on late Friday afternoon at the team’s Oakland hotel.

“It was all business, and everybody was all locked in,” Brown said.

Most of the time, the evenings before a game are what Meyer likes to call “the best Fridays in football,” and he is all about his players relaxing, enjoying one another’s company and getting plenty of rest after a hard week of preparation.

“As far as nourishment, and hydrating, and getting rest at the right times, and getting up and moving around, and getting a sweat going at the right time, it’s very important stuff,” Mewhort said. “Their system works. We’ve just got to keep going and trust the plan.”